Teenage asylum seekers jailed after ‘horrific’ rape of 15-year-old girl
Two child asylum seekers who kidnapped and raped a 15-year-old girl were detained for ten and nine years respectively.
Jan Jahanzeb and Israr Niazal, both 17, face possible deportation and have been ordered to register as sex offenders.
The pair took the highly distressed girl away from her friends and then took her to a “den-type” area in Leamington Spa, where they pushed her to the ground and attacked her, Warwick Crown Court was told.
Sentencing the teenagers on Monday, Judge Sylvia de Bertodano said the victim made “violent protests” as he was deliberately taken to a secluded area.
The judge told Jahanzeb and Niazal, who had previously been served with deportation notice papers: “What you two did that evening changed his life forever.
“No child should have to go through the ordeal he did. It is clear from the images we have seen that no one can seriously entertain the thought that you believe he consented.”
“This is a case where it was absolutely clear to both of you that you took a child from his friends in the face of his violent protests and took him to an unobservable location to commit this crime.
“You both knew very well that what you did was criminal and wrong.”
Jahanzeb was sentenced to 10 years and 8 months in youth detention, and Niazal was sentenced to 9 years and 10 months in prison.
Both had pleaded guilty to rape at a previous hearing at Coventry youth court.
This comes after announcing on Monday that restrictions protecting their identities had been lifted.
The judge acknowledged that maintaining current restrictions could lead to speculation that could lead to innocent people being targeted.
“Lack of information fuels public anger and leads to the uncontrolled spread of misinformation,” the judge said.
Jahanzeb and Niazal pleaded guilty to assaulting the girl in May this year at a hearing at Coventry youth court in October.
Both defendants appeared at the Crown Court for sentencing and each appeared in the dock with the assistance of his own interpreter.
The rape, which took place after the victim was separated from friends in a grassy area, has been described as “horrifying” in legal submissions over reporting restrictions.
Prosecutor Shawn Williams, who announced the facts of the case against Jahanzeb and Niazal on Monday, said both defendants were unaccompanied child asylum seekers.
Mr Williams said Jahanzeb fled Afghanistan and after arriving in the UK in January this year was subject to an age assessment which concluded he was 17 years old.
Niazal arrived in the UK in November last year and was first accommodated in Kent before being moved to local authority care in the Warwickshire area.
Mr Williams told the court that video evidence obtained during the police investigation showed Jahanzeb was with the victim and spoke Pashto to urge Niazal to join him.
Mr Williams said the mobile phone footage seized during the investigation was extremely distressing, saying the victim screamed for help but Jahanzeb put his hand over the woman’s mouth.
The victim had made “outspoken protests” during what Mr Williams described as a “kidnapping”.
Mr Williams said of CCTV footage showing three figures: “He was being taken away against his will.
“He moved into a bushy work area, a really secluded spot.”
The horrified victim remembers being forced to her knees before being raped.
“The prosecution says it was probably Jahanzeb who did it, but what is certain is that Israr Niazal was there and participated,” Mr Williams said.
The court heard the victim repeatedly shouted at Jahanzeb to let her go, but motioned for Niazal to join her before taking the girl to the scene of the rape.
He was eventually helped by a member of the public who advised him to contact the police and stayed with him until he was safe.
In an impact statement read to the court by a lawyer, the unidentified victim said: “The day I was raped changed me as a person.
“I don’t feel safe anymore every time I go out.
“It’s especially painful for me to watch (other family members) feel crushed when they believe they have to be there or do something, even though I know they can’t do anything to stop what’s happening.
“I hate that I’m now seen as a victim, even though that’s exactly what I am.”
Joshua Radcliffe, defending Niazal during mitigation, said his client’s crime was “appalling” and would require a lengthy period of detention.
“He came to this country to get away from the Taliban,” Mr. Radcliffe said. “His father, who was in the Afghan Army, was killed.”
Mr Radcliffe said Niazal was still seeking asylum and intended to “build a life in this country after his release”.
The court was told Niazal pleaded guilty the day before his 17th birthday, the cut-off point for the automatic deportation of foreign criminals sentenced to more than a year in prison.
Robert Holt, for Jahanzeb, said the teenager traveled from Afghanistan to England for nine months, eventually reaching British waters in a small boat.
It was claimed that Cihanzeb, who will turn 18 in three weeks after determining January 1 as his birthday after age determinations, ran away because the grieving family threatened him because his father was involved in a fatal accident.
The court heard he had already been served with deportation papers.
